


Alya's insomnia

by Merricup



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adorable dorks, Christmas Fluff, DJWifi, F/M, Feels, I don't know why I'm crying in the club right now, Idiots in Love, OTP Feels, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Translation, so much feels, so soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22864153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merricup/pseuds/Merricup
Summary: Alya has had insomnia since she was a child.And until then, she didn't think she could find a cure for it.
Relationships: Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	Alya's insomnia

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Les insomnies d'Alya](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21835792) by [Merricup](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merricup/pseuds/Merricup). 



Her first insomnia took place on Christmas Eve. She was only six years old at the time, and like all children her age, Alya believed in Santa Claus.

But unlike other children her age, Alya believed herself to be clever enough to be the first to catch him, at least in photos, and prove his existence to the whole world.

So small and already big reporter at heart.

She stayed awake all night without showing the slightest sign of tiredness. Sitting cross-legged near the bay window, staring at the night sky in the hope of seeing the sleigh, his father's binoculars in one hand and his mother's camera in the other.

Her parents scolded her early in the morning and warned her: if she did it again next Christmas, then she would be deprived of gifts.

It was unfair, especially for her, little girl with big dreams. But she never did it again, at least not on purpose.

The second one happened a year later, around New Year's Eve. She spent the night drawing without falling asleep - she was indignant at the sandman who could have made the effort to fly over her house, right?

The next morning, she struggled to find an excuse to explain the dozens of drawings that covered the floor of her bedroom.

And the insomnia followed one another.

The seventh, she was busy tidying up her room from top to bottom from three to six in the morning, obviously without making any noise.

The tenth, she spent her night on her Nintendo DS, hunting Pokemon.

In the nineteenth, insomnia fell on her because of the stress of tomorrow's control. She almost slept on her desk, but ended up getting a good grade anyway.

The twenty-fifth, her older sister joined her in the middle of the night, claiming to have heard her walk. And Alya get the fright of her life, because she believed at the time that Nora was going to scold her and denounce her to the parents; but nothing at all.  
She realized this evening that Nora also suffered from insomnia, from time to time - a kind of family curse, perhaps.

So the two sisters huddled against each other in the youngest's bed and watched an old movie, bad moreover, to pass the time. Alya felt selfish to think so, but not being alone during insomnia reassured her more than she would have imagined.

After the thirtieth insomnia for Alya and the third sleeplessness spent together, the two girls created a code to warn the other in case of sleep breakdown. Their bedroom being next to each other, they simply had to knock gently three times on the wall to communicate without waking up the whole household. Then the other joined the first if she was awake too, and they watched several films, sometimes the same two days in a row.

Foolishly, she began to appreciate the insomnia, Alya, when the sandman forgot her and her sister.

And she ended up stopping counting.

But one day, Nora left the house to continue her studies abroad, trying to succeed into the difficult boxing world. So they were communicating by message, when Alya finally got a cell phone for herself.

But it seemed that outside of France, insomnia no longer existed, since Nora responded less and less during the night.

And Alya felt more alone than ever.

She didn't tell anyone about her insomnia, not even her parents, not even Marinette, not even Nino.

She did not speak of the texts she wrote when sleep did not want to inhabit her, she did not speak of the hundreds of films that she had been able to see during all those nights.

She was not talking about the unwieldy loneliness she felt when she was huddled in her comforter, her eyes wide open, a lump in her throat, her head filled with thoughts.

The years have passed. The sleeplessness followed one another. And Alya left France too to perfect her English; keeping in touch with her family, her boyfriend, her friends who stayed in Paris, obviously, and meeting new people here in England. Continuing her life, slowly but surely, because it was necessary anyway, right?

And there she is, sixteen years later, sixteen years after the first insomnia. Christmas Eve. Merciless insomnia. Hardened loneliness.

Well, certain things do not change.

Because spending Christmas Eve alone is already something, but spending the next night looking for sleep that doesn't come is much worse.

She rehashes old dark thoughts, she begins to mope, in the dim light of her apartment. She waits for a message, any message, but she knows that no one will answer her; neither Nora who has to be kept busy, nor Nino who has to sleep at this hour, nor Marinette who spends the holidays with Adrien.

Sigh. Whispers from the TV that she ends up turning off. Hot chocolate that's not that hot anymore.

And then, a boom.

She jumps so violently that her heart misses a beat. The thumping noise came from outside, her balcony more precisely – and Alya saw some horror films, enough to start making frightening scenarios in her mind, but not enough to silence her curiosity obviously.

She puts her cup on the coffee table, then she gets up from her sofa, leaving her blanket on it, heading hastily towards the bay window. She doesn't see much in the dark, so she wonders if she hasn't dreamed after all.

But when she puts her hand on the handle, a silhouette suddenly appears in the dark through her window and Alya utters a cry of dread.

A jolt again and ready to recover a makeshift weapon to defend herself against her attacker, Alya begins a movement of retreat but by fixing this silhouette, something attracts her attention.

Several things, actually. _Too_ many familiar things.

"Nino?" she mutters, distraught.

Well, it is not really Nino, even if the person who has just magically appeared on his balcony, at the understanding of this first name, starts to smile and sends her a little sign.

No, it is not Nino but rather _Carapace_.

And if the urge to jump for joy comes to her, it's not the first thing Alya does when she opens the window.

"What are you doing here ?!"

She's not really angry, just... surprised, that's all. And then, it is the shock and the adrenaline which put her a little on the nerves, to imagine immediately the consequences that he will undergo for having used his Miraculous when there is no danger.

"You are completely irresponsible, and how..."

"Hey, I promise, I asked permission first," he says calmly. "I have a special waiver from Ladybug herself."

He accentuates his answer with a wink, enough for Alya to sketch a smile despite the authoritarian mother mask she is trying to keep for the moment.

"How did you get here?"

"A friend who gave me a hand", he says simply, mischievous.

Alya sighs for the umpteenth time and Nino quickly loses his smile.

"It was a bad idea, right? I'm so sorry I scared you, I was just worried after your message and I thought..."

But the young woman does not give him time to continue.

She rushes over him and falls in his arms, hugging him tightly as if they had not seen each other for years – although, in his head, it is a little the case – and Nino answers immediately to her hug, embracing her tenderly while detransforming himself with a barely audible murmur.

She gets drunk on his scent, the heat of his body, his breath in her hair, and suddenly, Alya has a heart a thousand times lighter, a mind a thousand times less cluttered.

Suddenly, she almost wants to cry.

Nino frees her after a few minutes, only to admire her face again, a tender smile stretching his lips. But a gleam of astonishment begins to shine in his pupils when he notices the tears which pearl at the corner of the eyes of his girlfriend, and he hastens to take her face between his hands, truly anxious.

"What is happening?"

"Nothing," she answers gently, taking one of his hands in hers. "I'm just glad to see you again."

They exchange smiles and Nino caresses the young woman's cheek before he bends down to kiss her tenderly.

And his lips against hers seem to be a summer breeze in a winter, the solution to all her problems, the remedy for all her ill-beings.

They end the kiss without breaking their closeness, their noses brushing gently, their breaths blending in harmony, Alya's heart stirring forcefully in her chest like a song of happiness.

"Merry Christmas," he whispers, delicately wedging a strand of her hair behind her ear.

And it is only then that Alya realizes that with all these insomnia on the clock,  
never has she lived one alongside Nino.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone !  
> I hope you enjoyed reading it! I tried to translate this on my own so sorry if you found mistakes or anything like that, I take any returns and/or corrections  
> Thank you <3


End file.
